Fluid-metapelite interaction in an ultramafic mélange: implications for mass transfer along the slab-mantle interface in subduction zones

Abstract

The slab-mantle interface in subduction zones is a site of tectonic mixing of crustal and mantle rocks. It is the interface for fluid flow of slab-derived components into the mantle wedge. To assess the fluid-rock interaction along the slab-mantle interface, we studied the bleaching of pelitic schist in an ultramafic mélange. The Nishisonogi metamorphic rocks in Kyushu, Japan, comprise ultramafic mélanges intercalated with epidote-blueschist facies schists. The ultramafic mélange consists of tectonic blocks of various lithologies and a matrix of chlorite-actinolite schist and serpentinite. Along the contact with the mélange matrix, pelitic schist blocks are bleached mainly due to the modal increase of albite and the consumption of carbonaceous material. The bleaching is probably attributed to infiltration of Na-rich external fluid from the mélange matrix. Mass balance analysis indicates losses of C, Rb, K2O, Ba, Pb, and SiO2 from the bleached pelitic schist, although Al2O3, TiO2, Sc, Y, Zr, Nb, La, Ce, and Nd remain immobile. This suggests fractionation of large-ion lithophile elements (LILE) and Pb from the high-field-strength elements and rare earth elements during the bleaching. If this ultramafic mélange is analogous to the slab-mantle interface, similar infiltration metasomatism will promote liberation of C, Si, LILE, and Pb from subducting metapelites and enhance metasomatism of the mantle wedge.